ROBERT S. LORIMER - INTERIORS AND FURNITURE
DESIGN
Lindsay Macbeth Shen
A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD
at the
University of St Andrews
1994
Full metadata for this item is available in
St Andrews Research Repository
at:
http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15334
ROBERT S. LOR1MER
ProQuest Number: 10167233
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
uest
ProQuest 10167233
Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author.
All rights reserved.
This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346
ROBERT S • LORXMER
INTERIORS AND FURNITURE DESIGN
LINDSAY MACBETH SHEN
THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY
1-(i) I, Lindsay Macbeth Shen, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 83,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree,.
date 22-4-1993 Signature of candidate .
(ii) I was admitted as a research student undp^
Ordinance No. 12 in January 1990 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in July 1990; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out
in the University of St. Andrews between 19/90 and 1993-^
date 22-4-1993 Signature of candidate.
...
/
(iii) I hereby certify that the candidate ha,s fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution ahd
Regulations appropriate for the degree of Do'ctorate of Philosophy in the University of St. Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree.
date ... Signature of supervisor...
In submitting this thesis to the University of St. Andrews I wish access to it to be subject to the
following conditions:
B RESTRICTED
for a period of 5 years from the date of submission, the thesis shall be made available for use only with the consent of the Head/Chairman of the department in which the work was carried out.
I understand, however, that the title and abstract of the thesis will be published during this period of restricted access; and that after the expiry of this, period the thesis will be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright in the work not being affected thereby, and a copy of the work may be made and supplied to afay bona
fide library or research worker. ■■ ' "
VOLUME 1
CONTENTS
List of Contents ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of Abbreviations iv
List of Plates v
Note on Layout xviii
Abstract xx
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: The Scottish Tradition 8
Chapter 2: Collecting, and the Influence of 73
Antiques on Furniture Design
Chapter 3: The Architect as Interior Designer 156
Chapter 4: Attitudes to the New: Tradition and
Technology 223
Chapter 5: Workmanship 303
Conclusion 364
Appendix 1: The Marchmont Pallet, Whytock . 368
and Reid
Appendix 2: Furniture provided for Balmanno 373
Castle by Whytock and Reid
Appendix 3: Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: 375
List of Work by Robert Lorimer
Bibliography 378
VOLUME 2 PLATES
INTERIORS, DRAWINGS, DECORATIVE ARTS AND RELATED MATERIAL
VOLUME 3 PLATES
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
I would like to thank the following for their help in the production of this thesis:
Neil Adams and Peter Burgess of Burgess Adams Architects, Renier Baarsen, June Baxter and the
National Trust for Scotland East Fife Members' Centre, Laurance Black, Stephanie Blackden, E.A.H. Blythe,
Baron St. Clair Bonde, Louise Boreham, John Bruce, Patrick Buchanan, Ronald G. Cant, Wilma Capperauld, Annette Carruthers, Jack Clow, Alan Crawford, The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, Charles, Isla and David Crichton, Elizabeth Cumming, Peter Donaldson, Sheila Downie, The Baron and Baroness of Earlshall, Sandy
East, East Neuk of Fife Preservation Society, the staff of Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections, Iain Flett, Martin Forrest, Chloe Forrester, John Frew, the Gapper Bequest, Christopher Gilbert, Ian Gow,
Elspeth Hardie, Christopher Hartley, David Jones,
Juliet Kinchin, William Laing, Julian Llewellen Palmer, Helen Lloyd-Jones, Mrs Christopher Lorimer, Hew
Lorimer, William Lorimer, Audrey and Ewan Macbeth, Max
Mackay-James, David Maclure, Alexander Mair, Stuart
Matthew, Deborah Mays, Mary Miller, the staff of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Frederick Multon, Andrew Myl'ius, the staff of the National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, the staff of the National Library of Scotland, the staff of the National Monuments Record of Scotland, John Noble, Ross Noble, P. A. Oppenheim, Mr. Pearson, John and Marjorie Perry, Bruce Pert, J.
Pollard, Campbell and David Reid, and the staff of Whytock and Reid, Norman Reid, Harriet Richardson, Agnes Robertson, Pamela Robertson, Julia Rolfe,
Alistair Rowan, the staff of the Royal Institute of British Architects Library, the Russell Trust, Peter Savage, David Scarrat, Byron Ciping Shen, Robert Smart, Lady Sutherland, Margaret Swain, University of St.
Andrews Reprographics Department, Dawn Wadell, Lorna Wadell, Eliane Wheeler, Rena Williamson, the late Hugh L. B. Worthington, Elizabeth Wright.
L I S T O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S
AIA American Institute of Architects
BGA Bromsgrove Guild Archive
BP Bruce Pert
DIA Design and Industries Association
EAA Edinburgh Architectural Association
EAS Edinburgh Architectural Society
ECA Edinburgh College of Art
ECL Edinburgh Central Library
EUL SC Edinburgh University Library, Special ■
Collections
GUA Glasgow University Archive
HWC Heriot-Watt College Archive
LS Lindsay Shen
NAL National Arts Library, Victoria and Albert
Museum
NGS National Gallery of Scotland
NLS National Library of Scotland
NMRS National Monuments Record of Scotland
NMS National Museums of Scotland
PA Peter Adamson
QIAS Quarterly of the Incorporation of Architects
in Scotland
RIBA Royal Institute of British Architects
RIBA DIA DIA Archives, RIBA Library
RIBA DIAP DIA Archives/Peach Papers, RIBA Library
RSA Royal Scottish Academy
SM Stuart Matthew
SRO Scottish Record Office
WRA Whytock and Reid Archives
WRA/B Whytock and Reid Archive, Basement
L I S T O F P L A T E S
Unless otherwise stated, work illustrated is by Robert Lorimer.
VOLUME 2
FIGURE 1 Earlshall, Leuchars, Fife. The hall, south
end. Architectural Review 46 (July - Dec. 1919).
FIGURE 2 Earlshall. The hall, north end. Architectural Review 46 (July - Dec. 1919) .
FIGURE 3 "Sideboard which purports to have belonged to
Queen Margaret, Queen of James IV". Paton, Scottish
National Memorials (Glasgow, 1890).
FIGURE 4 Scott Morton and Company. 25 Learmonth
Terrace, Edinburgh, billiard room from the ingle. Art
Journal 49 (1897).
FIGURE 5 George Walton. Chair for Buchanan Street Tea
Rooms, Glasgow, 1896. Larner, The Glasgow Stvle.
FIGURE 6 Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Chair for hall at
Windyhill, Kilmacolm. H. 133.7cm. w. 73.2cm. d.
54.5cm. Oak, stained dark. Billcliffe, Charles Rennie
Mackintosh 1901.31.
FIGURE 7 Caqueteuse chair. Oak. Photographed in
Whytock and Reid's showroom. LS 1992.
FIGURE 8 Wheeler workshop, Arncroach, Fife.
Caqueteuse chair. H. 113cm. w. 59cm. d. 42.5cm.
1904. Oak. The Earl of Crawford. LS 1990.
FIGURE 9 Balcarres Estate Office. Caqueteuse chairs
and octagonal rent table. The Earl of Crawford. LS
1990.
FIGURE 10 Caqueteuse chair. Provenance St. Monans,
Fife. Oak. 1618. The East Neuk of Fife Preservation
Society. PA 1990.
FIGURE 11 Sketch of oak cabinet at Edinburgh Museum,
May 1889. Sketchbook 52. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 12 Ellary, Argyllshire. Chimneypiece. Oak.
Inlay by Morison and Company. Shaw Sparrow, British
Home.
FIGURE 13 Hallyburton, Perthshire. Dining room. Oak. Architectural Review 2 0 (July - Dec. 19 06) .
FIGURE 14 8 Great Western Terrace, Glasgow.
Chimneypiece. EUL SC (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 15 8 Great Western Terrace, Glasgow. Window
corner of dining room. Shaw Sparrow, British Home.
FIGURE 16 Sketch of a chest in Munster Museum, 2 6-9
1913. Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 17 8 Great Western Terrace, Glasgow. Detail of
staircase. Oak. LS 1990. ,
FIGURE 18 Ardkinglas, Argyllshire. Plasterwork
ceiling. Country Life 34 (27-9-1913): Architectural
Supplement.
FIGURE 19 Monzie Castle, Perthshire. Door furniture
FIGURE 20 Monzie Castle. Bedroom in earlier part of
castle. Lorimer Office scrapbook, SM.
FIGURE 21 Hill of Tarvit, Fife. Buffet niche on
staircase. LS 1990.
FIGURE 22 Hallyburton. Glazed cupboard in dining
room. LS 1990.
FIGURE 23 Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Sketch of a
chair. Sketchbook A 5 . Hunterian Art Gallery,
University of Glasgow, Mackintosh Collection, AC 3118.
FIGURE 24 Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Sketch of a
wooden bench. Sketchbook A 2 . Hunterian Art Gallery,
University of Glasgow, Mackintosh Collection, AC 3053.
FIGURE 25 Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Windyhill.
Dining room. Billcliffe, Charles Rennie Mackintosh
1901.F.
FIGURE 26 Wheeler workshop. Chairs. Dundee City Archives, East Brothers of Lochee Papers GD/MUS
112/3/1.
FIGURE 27 Chair. H. 94cm. w. 53.5cm. d. 56cm.
Trossachs and Perthshire. Highland Folk Museum,
Kingussie, KNB 24. LS 1991.
FIGURE 28 Wheeler workshop. Chairs and cabinet work. Dundee City Archives, East Brothers of Lochee Papers GD/MUS 112/3/1.
FIGURE 29 Philip Clissett. Spindle-back chair. Oak,
elm seat. Cotton, English Regional Chair.
FIGURE 30 Earlshall. Garden room. Photograph National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle.
FIGURE 31 Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Stick-back chair
for Glasgow School of Art Library. Billcliffe, Charles
Rennie Mackintosh 1910.9.
FIGURE 32 Cabinet. H. 214cm w. 176cm. d. 77cm.
Flemish or Dutch. Oak with marquetry. Holyrood
Palace.
FIGURE 33 A. Muir. Details of inlay panel on cabinet,
March 1907 [fig. 32]. National Art Survey of Scotland.
NMRS (National Art Survey) NAS 1362.
FIGURE 34 John William Small. Drawing of marquetry on
"Queen Anne's Press". Small, Scottish Woodwork.
FIGURE 35 A. Muir. Details of marquetry panel on
Dutch cabinet, March 1907 [fig. 32]. National Art
Survey of Scotland. NMRS (National Art Survey) NAS
1362 .
FIGURE 36 Cabinet [fig. 32]. Detail of marquetry. LS 199-0.
FIGURE 37 J. F. Smith. Measured drawing of a toilet
stand in Holyrood Palace, Dec. 1895. National Art
Survey of Scotland. NMRS National Art Survey) NAS
1439.
FIGURE 38 Monzie Castle. Drawing room. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) PT/5839.
FIGURE 39 Monzie Castle. Drawing room. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) PR 4631.
FIGURE 41 Scott Morton and Company. Carved panels for
Monzie Castle drawing room. Scott Morton and Company
album, EUL SC E81/27.
FIGURE 42 Hill of Tarvit. Drawing room. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 43 Scott Morton and Company. Carved wood panel
for Hill of Tarvit drawing room. LS 1990.
FIGURE 44 Ardkinglas. Morning room. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 45 Hallyburton. Morning room. LS 1990.
FIGURE 46 Hallyburton. Morning room, detail of wood
panelling. LS 1990.
FIGURE 47 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh. Drawing
room. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 48 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh. Drawing
room. Country Life 34 (27-9-1913): Architectural
Supplement.
FIGURE 49 Sketch of furniture details, including
armoire. Sketchbook 63. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 50 Wylie and Lochhead. Drawing room. Wylie
and Lochhead 1900 catalogue. GUA HF 48/11/4.
FIGURE 51 Monzie Castle. Drawing room. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 52 Window shutter. Oak. Louis XV. Museum of
Science and Art, Edinburgh. Rowe, French Wood
Carvings.
FIGURE 53 Panel from cupboard door and fragment of
panel. Louis XIV. Glasgow City Corporation Art
Galleries. Rowe, French Wood Carvings.
FIGURE 54 Hill of Tarvit, Fife. Drawing room. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 55 54 Melville Street, Edinburgh. Dining room. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 56 Armoire. Photographed at Gibliston, Fife. NMS Gibliston album.
FIGURE 57 Nathaniel Grieve. Armoire. Lorimer Office album, SM.
FIGURE 58 Scott Morton and Company. Doors for Hill of
Tarvit drawing room. Oak. Scott Morton and Company
album, EUL SC E81/27.
FIGURE 59 Sketch of part of a balustrade made in 1511
for the Court of Holland in The Hague. Sketch made in
1899, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Sketchbook 63. NMRS
(Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 60 Hill of Tarvit, Fife. Staircase, from hall. LS 1990.
FIGURE 61 Scott Morton and Company. Staircase at the
Glen, Peeblesshire. Oak. Architectural Review 27
(Jan. - June 1910) .
FIGURE 62 Stone staircase. Rouen. Lorimer Office scrapbook, SM.
FIGURE 63 Morris and Company. Stanmore Hall,
FIGURE 64 Sketch of early eighteenth-century sofa in
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Sketchbook 63. NMRS (Lorimer
Collection).
FIGURE 65 Sofa. Dutch, early eighteenth-century.
Walnut, with petit point embroidery cover.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, NM 9754.
FIGURE 66 Chest of drawers. Northern Netherlands,
first quarter eighteenth century. Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam, RBK 1959-24.
FIGURE 67 Sketch of a chest of drawers. Letter to
Dods, 22-12-1896. EUL SC (Lorimer Collection), MS
2484.
FIGURE 68 Tea table. Dutch, first half eighteenth
century. Mahogany. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. 1955
81.
FIGURE 69 Zaandijk. Council chamber in the Town Hall Sluyterman, Old Interiors in Holland.
FIGURE 70 Monzie Castle. Tiled fire surround. LS 1990.
FIGURE 71 Zwolle. Room of the Committee of the
Emmanuel Houses. Sluyterman, Old interiors in Holland
FIGURE 72 Cabinet on stand. Dutch. Walnut veneer. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle.
FIGURE 73 Room from Hindeloopen. Frisian Museum,
Leeuwarden. Sluyterman, Old Interiors in Holland.
FIGURE 74 John F. Matthew. Sketch of a table, drawn
at Adams, Queensferry St. John F. Matthew sketchbook,
SM.
FIGURE 75 Hill of Tarvit. Dining room. Scott Morton and Company album, EUL SC E81/27.
FIGURE 76 Hill of Tarvit. Dining room. Nicoll, Domestic Architecture in Scotland.
FIGURE 77 Monzie Castle. Dining room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 78 Monzie Castle. Dining room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 79 Sketch of firescreen table with workbox
(left). Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 80 Sketch of a revolving bookcase (right).
Sketchbook 66. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 81 Marchmont, Berwickshire. Saloon. Mid
eighteenth century. Country Life 57 (Jan. - June
1925).
FIGURE 82 Marchmont, Berwickshire. Plan for morning
room. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) BWD/61/51.
FIGURE 83 Sketch of a table seen in Vicenza, 12-5
1923. Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 84 Ardkinglas. Corridor to staircase. LS 1991.
FIGURE 85 Ardkinglas. Upper hall. Nicoll, Domestic Architecture in Scotland.
FIGURE 86 Ardkinglas. Niche fitted with radiator
behind metalwork grill. LS 1991.
FIGURE 87 Ardkinglas. Saloon, by 1908. Nicoll, Domestic Architecture in Scotland.
FIGURE 89 Sketches of furniture seen in Italy.
Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 90 Sketches of furniture seen in Italy.
Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 91 Sketches of furniture seen in Italy.
Sketchbook 71. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 92 John William Small. Design for a sideboard. Small, Ancient and Modern Furniture.
FIGURE 93 Balmanno Castle, Perthshire. Drawing room. Country Life 69 (Jan. - March 1931).
FIGURE 94 Balmanno Castle. Parlour. LS 1991.
FIGURE 95 Fettercairn, Kincardineshire. Library. Weaver, House and Equipment.
FIGURE 96 Fettercairn. Design for proposed library,
elevation. 1898. NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
FIGURE 97 Balmanno Castle. Drawing room plan. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) PTD/32/44.
FIGURE 98 Balmanno Castle. Billiard room plan. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) PTD/32/45.
FIGURE 99 Balmanno Castle. Hall plan. NMRS (Lorimer Collection) PTD/32/46.
FIGURE 100 Balmanno Castle. Dining room. Country Life 69 (Jan. - March 1931).
FIGURE 101 Balmanno Castle. Plasterwork frieze in
bedroom, executed by Thomas Beattie. LS 1992.
FIGURE 102 Whytock and Reid. Tracing on linen of
design for a breadboard. WRA/O A34. ■
FIGURE 103 Bromsgrove Guild. Light fittings for
Hallyburton. Architectural Review 20 (July - Dec.
1906) .
FIGURE 104 Drawing for fireirons for Aberlour House,
Banff. 1892. Photograph, SM.
FIGURE 105 Walter Camm of Thomas William Camm.
Stained and painted glass window for main stair turret,
Balmanno Castle. H.90cm. w.30cm. LS 1992.
FIGURE 106 Walter Camm of Thomas William Camm.
Stained and painted glass window for main stair turret,
Balmanno Castle. H.93cm. w . 68.5cm. LS 1992.
FIGURE 107 Bedcover. Embroidered in wool by Mrs
Skinner. Shaw Sparrow, Modern Home.
FIGURE 108 Touch House, Stirling. Drawing room
upholstery. LS 1992.
FIGURE 109 Touch House. Linen on bedroom wall. LS 1992 .
FIGURE 110 Monzie Castle. Curtain fabric in library. LS 1990.
FIGURE 111 Balmanno Castle. Veneered panel, door in
drawing room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 112 George Walton. Corner of a bedroom. Shaw Sparrow, British Home.
FIGURE 113 Monzie Castle. Main hall. SM.
FIGURE 114 Westfield, Colinton. Sliding doors between
FIGURE 115 Westfield. Fitted china cabinet in drawing
room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 116 Westfield. Fireplace wall, dining room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 117 Binley Cottage, Colinton. Fireplace in
drawing room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 118 Almora, Colinton. Pierced wood carving on
staircase. LS 1992.
FIGURE 119 The Hermitage, Colinton. Shelving and
cupboard space. LS 1992.
FIGURE 120 Glenlyon, Colinton. Zodiac plasterwork
panel on staircase. LS 1992.
FIGURE 121 Huntly, Colinton. Stained glass window,
ground floor. LS 1992.
FIGURE 122 Balmanno Castle. Fitted bedroom cupboard. LS 1992.
FIGURE 123 Balmanno Castle, Perthshire. Fitted
cupboards in ground floor pantry. LS 1992.
FIGURE 124 Gibliston, Fife. Drawing room, showing
fitted book shelving. Photographed at Gibliston. NMS
Gibliston album.
FIGURE 125 Lympne Castle, Kent. Library bookcase. Weaver, House and Equipment.
FIGURE 126 Lympne Castle. Ante-room to dining room. Weaver, House and Equipment.
FIGURE 127 Thomas Hadden. Wrought iron grill to cover
radiator at Ardkinglas. Country Life 34 (27-9-1913):
Architectural Supplement.
FIGURE 128 Bromsgrove Guild. Light fitting for
Hallyburton. LS 1990.
FIGURE 129 Bromsgrove Guild. Light fitting for saloon
at Ardkinglas. LS 1992.
FIGURE 130 Touch House. Indirect lighting in present
day map room. LS 1992.
FIGURE 131 Ardkinglas. Shower fitting. Aslet, Last.
FIGURE 132 Balmanno Castle. Fitted washstand in
bedroom. LS 1992.
FIGURE 133 Touch House. Fitted washstand in main
bedroom. H.185cm. w.86.5cm. d.56cm. Padouk burr.
LS 1992.
FIGURE 134 Kaare Klint and Carl Petersen (left).
Chair. H. 72cm. w. 56cm. d. 57cm. 1914. Denmark.
Oak and woven cane.
Carl Malmsten (right). Armchair. H. 84.5cm. w.
56.5cm. d. 48.5cm. Sweden. Walnut and woven cane.
McFadden, Scandinavian Modern Design.
FIGURE 135 Probably Wheeler workshop, with carving by
Robert Lorimer. Chair. H. 96cm. w. 42cm. d. 40cm.
Oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS
1992 .
FIGURE 136 Wheeler workshop. Chair. H. 96cm. w.
42cm. d. 40cm. Oak. National Trust for Scotland,
FIGURE 137 Chairs after eighteenth-century models (see
cat. 68). Lorimer Office album, SM.
FIGURE 138 Wheeler workshop. Patterns for fretted
chair back splats. Dundee City Archives, East Brothers
of Lochee Papers GD/MUS 112/3/1.
FIGURE 139 Wheeler workshop? Chair. H. 84.5cm. w.
42cm. d. 36cm. Oak. National Trust for Scotland,
Kellie Castle. LS 1990.
FIGURE 140 Embroidered seat cover for chair
illustrated as figure 139. LS 1990.
FIGURE 141 Wheeler workshop. Furniture samples. Dundee City Archives, East Brothers of Lochee Papers GD/MUS 112/3/1.
FIGURE 142 Wheeler workshop. Cockpen or "T chair". Dundee City Archives, East Brothers of Lochee Papers GD/MUS 112/3/1.
FIGURE 143 Wheeler workshop. Patterns for front legs and front seat rail of "T chair". Magnus Dunsire and
Sons, Colinsburgh, Fife. PA.
FIGURE 144 Wheeler workshop (William Wheeler the elder at centre). c.1901. Hay, "Chair to a Fiddle".
FIGURE 145 Frank Deas . Kinfauns Castle, Perthshire.
Staircase. Recent English Domestic Architecture 1910.
FIGURE 146 Frank Deas. Kinfauns Castle. Staircase,
pierced frieze below handrail. Recent English Domest-ic
Architecture 1910.
FIGURE 147 Frank Deas. Kinfauns Castle. Carved
finials on newels of staircase. Recent English
Domestic Architecture 1910.
FIGURE 148 Carved finials for newel posts. Architectural Review 27 (Jan. - June 1910).
FIGURE 149 Frank Deas. Cleeve Grange,
Gloucestershire. 1910. Recent English Domestic
Architecture 1911.
FIGURE 150 Scott Morton and Company. Drawing room mantel carvings for Cleeve Grange, remodelled by Frank
Deas, 1910. Scott Morton and Company album, EUL SC
E81/27.
FIGURE 151 Whytock and Reid. Plaster casts. LS 1992.
FIGURE 152 Whytock and Reid. Working drawing for
dressing glass dated 27-2-1907. WRA/O D 8 . LS 1992.
FIGURE 153 Members of the Bromsgrove Guild. c. 1909. From left to right: A. Pillon, Charles Bonnet, Garscia
(seated), Leopold Weiss, Celestino Pancheri, Cyril
White, Louis Weingartner, three unidentified. BGA,
Hartlebury Castle, source material file.
FIGURE 154 Bromsgrove Guild. Drawing of bell push.
H. 23.5cm. w. 17cm. Lorimer Office, SM.
FIGURE 155 Maquette for door handle, w. 12cm. Wood.
Coll. LS. LS 1992.
FIGURE 156 Bromsgrove Guild. Detail of drawings of
door handles. H. 52cm. w. 18cm. (whole). Lorimer '
FIGURE 157 Bromsgrove Guild. Detail of drawings of
door furniture. H. 51cm. w. 16.5cm. (whole). Lorimer
Office, SM.
FIGURE 158 Bromsgrove Guild. Detail of drawings of
door furniture. H. 51cm. w. 16.5cm. (whole). Lorimer
Office, SM.
FIGURE 159 Bromsgrove Guild. Sample door handle, w.
12cm. Brass, silver plated. LS 1992.
FIGURE 160 Bromsgrove Guild. Stock furniture and door
fittings. BGA, Hartlebury Castle 1966/170.
FIGURE 161 Bromsgrove Guild. Dolphin shutter pull.
Briglands, Kincardineshire. 1. 5cm. LS 1992.
FIGURE 162 Bromsgrove Guild. Diana door handle.
Ardkinglas. LS 1991.
FIGURE 163 Bromsgrove Guild. Stag door handle
(matching pattern of fig. 162). Hallyburton. LS 1990.
FIGURE 164 Bromsgrove Guild. Stock door handles.
Diana and quarry handles middle, left and right. BGA,
Hartlebury Castle 1966/170.
FIGURE 165 Bromsgrove Guild. Sample door handle, w.
13.5cm. Cast bronze. Coll. Martin Forrest, Forrest
McKay. LS 1992.
FIGURE 166 Sketch. Pencil on paper. Coll. William
Lorimer. LS 1990.
VOLUME 3
Complete details accompany each plate
CATALOGUE 1 Dressing table. H. 71cm. w. 128cm. d.
59cm. Oak with burr insets. Trustees of the National
Museums of Scotland SVL 10.
CATALOGUE 2 Sideboard. H. 148.5cm. w. 231cm. d.
56cm. Oak. Trustees of the National Museums of
Scotland SVL 18.
CATALOGUE 3 Chest of drawers. H. 130cm. w. 114cm d.
56.5cm. Pale oak with burr insets. National Museums
of Scotland SVL 12. NMS Gibliston album. 3a Trustees
of the National Museums of Scotland.
CATALOGUE 4 Bureau. NMS Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 5 Chest. H. 65.5cm. w. 131cm. d. 45cm.
Dark oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle
LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 6 Settle. H. 86.5cm. w. 152.5cm. d.
39.5cm. Oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie
Castle. PA. 6a PA.
CATALOGUE 7 Bedstead. Oak. Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art (1907) 90.
CATALOGUE 8 Bedstead. H. 178cm. w. 91cm. Oak
National Museums of Scotland SVL 13. NMS Gibliston
album.
H. 91.5cm. w. 110cm. d. 50.5cm. Oak. National
Museums of Scotland SVL 5. NMS Gibliston album.
9b Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland
CATALOGUE 10 Bed. w. 110cm. 1. 205cm. Wood and
caning. Private coll. LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 11 Basin stand. H. 73cm w. 92cm. d. 52cm
chestnut? Private coll. LS 1992. 11a LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 12 Wardrobe. H. 200cm. w. 125cm. d. 55cm
Private coll. LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 13 Chair. H. 95.5cm. w. 50cm. d. 43.5cm.
Elm. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
1990.
CATALOGUE 14 Chair. H. 96cm. w. 55cm. d. 49cm.
Elm. Private coll. PA 1990
CATALOGUE 15 Chair. H. 91cm. w. 53cm. d. 47cm.
Chestnut. Private coll. LS 1992
CATALOGUE 16 Chest of drawers. H. 119cm. w. 115cm.
d. 57cm. Oak and inlaid woods. National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
CATALOGUE 17 Chest. Oak, with inlaid woods. Studio (Oct. 1896 - Jan. 1897): 197.
CATALOGUE 18 Writing bureau. Oak. 111. Studio 9 (Oct. 1896 - Jan. 1897): 197.
CATALOGUE 19 Buffet. W. 147cm. Elm with inlaid
woods. Shaw Sparrow, British Home.
CATALOGUE 20 Dresser. H. 170cm. w. 90cm. d. 42cm.
Elm. National Museums of Scotland SVL 19.
Christie's, Earlshall lot no. 394.
CATALOGUE 21 Settle. W. 160cm. Oak. Private coll. LS 1990
CATALOGUE 22 Chest. H. 71cm w. 171cm. d. 58cm.
Oak, with inlaid woods. Trustees of the National
Museums of Scotland SVL 16. 22a National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle.
CATALOGUE 23 Chair H. 91cm. w. 60.5cm. d.44cm.
Ash. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. BP
1992. 23a LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 24 Chair. H. 103cm. w. 58cm. d. 43cm.
Oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS
1992. 24a NMRS (Lorimer Collection).
CATALOGUE 25 Sketch on working drawing for cutty-back
stool. Whytock and Reid. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 26 Chest of drawers. H. 76cm. w. 71.5cm.
d. ‘32.5cm. Oak with inlaid woods. National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS 1990. 26a LS 1990. 26b
National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle.
CATALOGUE 27 Napery cabinet. H. 187cm. w. 135cm. d
51cm. Walnut, with inlaid woods. Lorimer Office, SM.
27a National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle.
CATALOGUE 28 Bookcase. H. 75cm. w. 37cm. d. 32cm.
Mahogany. Private coll. Lorimer Office, SM.
CATALOGUE 29 Bookcase. H. 94cm. w. 170cm. d. 28cm.
Mahogany. Private coll. Lorimer Office, SM.
Walnut, with fabric upholstery. Private coll. LS 1990
CATALOGUE 31 canape. H. 91cm. w. 184cm. d. 56cm.
Walnut, with fabric upholstery. Private coll. LS 1990
CATALOGUE 32 Chaise longue. H. 84cm. w. 167cm. d.
66cm. Walnut, with fabric upholstery. Private coll.
LS -1990.
CATALOGUE 33 Armchair. H. 89cm. w. 68cm. d. 56cm.
Walnut, with fabric upholstery. Private coll. LS
1990 .
CATALOGUE 34 Stool. H. 53cm. dia. 48cm. Walnut,
with fabric upholstery. Private coll. LS 1990. .
CATALOGUE 35 Side chair. H. 79cm. w. 42cm. d. 38cm.
Walnut. Private coll. LS 1990. 35a LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 36 Sofa. H. 94.5cm. w. 202cm. d. 56cm.
Walnut, with fabric upholstery. National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
CATALOGUE 37 Bookcase. H. 156cm. w. 82cm. d. 41cm.
pale tulipwood, with marble top. Private coll. LS
1990.
CATALOGUE 38 Bookcase. H. 157cm. w. 84cm. d. 56cm.
Walnut veneer, with marble top. National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA. 38a, 38b PA.
CATALOGUE 39 Desk. H. 76cm. w. 142cm. d. 73cm.
Kingwood. Private coll. LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 40 Table. H. 72cm. w. 45cm. d. 32cm.
Kingwood. Private coll. LS 1990. 40a L S .
CATALOGUE 41 Card table. H. 70cm. w. 82cm. d. 41cm.
Kingwood. Private coll. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 42 Display cabinet. H. 264cm. w. 146cm.
d. 58cm. Oak. Trustees of the National Museums of
Scotland SVL 11.
CATALOGUE 43 Corner display cabinet. H. 250cm. w.
81cm. Oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle
BP 1992.
CATALOGUE 44 Corner display cabinet. NMS Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 45 Cradle. Oak. Shaw Sparrow, British Home.
CATALOGUE 46 Piano. H. 100.3cm w. 123.2cm. d.
200.2cm. Savage, Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft
Designers fig. 169.
CATALOGUE 47 Dining table. H. 68.5cm. w. 173cm. d.
89cm. Oak. Lorimer family coll. LS 1990
CATALOGUE 48 Table. H. 69.5cm. dia. 114cm. Oak.
National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
CATALOGUE 49 Table. H. 74cm. w. 166cm., extending to
256cm. d. 119cm. Oak. National Galleries of
Scotland, on loan to the National Trust for Scotland,
Kellie Castle. PA.
CATALOGUE 50 Table. W. 550cm (extended) d. 122cm.
Oak'. Phillips, Scotland, 1989.
CATALOGUE 51 Sideboard. W. 259cm. d. 53cm. Oak. Phillips, Scotland, 1989.
CATALOGUE 52 Bench. H. 46.5cm w. 137cm. d. 46.5cm.
walnut veneer upholstered with horsehair. National
Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS 1990. 52a LS
1990.
CATALOGUE 53 Chest of drawers. H. 83cm. w. 89cm. d.
55cm. Walnut veneer, marble top. National Trust for
Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA.
CATALOGUE 54 Tea table. Walnut. Lorimer Office album, SM.
CATALOGUE 55 Armchair. Elm? with burr. H. 93cm. w.
58cm. d. 48cm. Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 56 Dressing glass. H. 180cm. Private coll.
LS 1990. .
CATALOGUE 57 Dressing glass. Walnut. H. 77cm. w.
39cm. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS
1992 .
CATALOGUE 58 Tea table. Phillips, Scotland 1990 58a National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle.
CATALOGUE 59 Armchair. H. 84cm. w. 58cm. d. 55.5cm.
coll. Hew Lorimer. PA.
CATALOGUE 60 Bureau bookcase. H. 231cm. w. 94cm. d.
53cm. Mahogany. Trustees of the National Museums of
Scotland SVL 14. 60a Trustees of the National Museums
of Scotland.
CATALOGUE 61 Corner chair. H. 76cm. w. 46cm. d.
46cm. National Museums of Scotland SVL 2. NMS
Gibliston album.
-CATALOGUE 62 Corner chair. H. 79cm. w. 62cm. d.
58cm. Lorimer Office album, SM.
CATALOGUE 63 Tea table. Walnut. Shaw Sparrow, Modern Home.
CATALOGUE 64 Carving table. H. 71cm. w. 136.5cm. d.
76cm. Mahogany. Private coll. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 65 Sideboard, H. 96.5cm. w. 229cm. d.
75.5cm. Mahogany. Private coll. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 66 Table. H. 84cm. w. 152cm. d. 65.5cm.
Walnut. Private coll. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 67 Card table. H. 72.5cm. dia. 94cm.
Stained mahogany. Private coll. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 68 Armchair. H. 98cm. w. 53cm. d. 45.5cm.
coll. Hew Lorimer. LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 69 Firescreen table. H. 93cm. w. 61cm. d.
45cm. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
CATALOGUE 70 Revolving bookcase (right). Mahogany Phillips, Scotland, 1989.
CATALOGUE 71 Armchair. Mahogany. Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 72 Side chair and armchair. Walnut. Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 73 Side chair. Burr elm and walnut. Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 74 Tripod table. W. 61cm. Mahogany. Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 75 Table. W. 183cm. Walnut. Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 76 Basin stand. W. 122cm. Mahogany.
Christie's, 1984.
CATALOGUE 77 Table. Private coll. NMS Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 78 Display table. H. 76cm. w. 121cm. d.
49cm. Private coll. LS 1991. 78a LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 79 Table. H. 69cm. dia. 83cm. Private
coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 80 Desk. H. 73cm. w. 122cm. d. 60cm.
Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 81 Sofa table. H. 74cm. w. 305cm. d.
74cm. Ash. Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 82 Desk. H. 94cm. w. 153cm. d. 65cm.
Walnut. Private coll. LS 1991. '
CATALOGUE 83 Table. H. 69cm. dia. 82cm. Ash
Private coll. LS 1991. •
CATALOGUE 84 Table. H. 72cm. w. 121cm. d. 62cm.
Oak. Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 85 Display table. H. 71cm. w. 244cm. d.
61cm. Oak. NMS Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 86
Display table. H. 75cm. w. 150cm. d. 44cm.
Oak. National Museums of Scotland SVL 6. NMS
Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 87 Games table. Oak, with marble top. NMS Gibliston album.
CATALOGUE 88 Table. H. 71cm. w. 152.5cm. d. 84cm.
Oak. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie Castle. PA
1992 .
CATALOGUE 89 Display table. H. 82cm. w. 118.5cm.
Walnut. Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 90 Stool. H. 42cm. w. 58cm. d. 31cm.
Sabicu with magnolia veneer. Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 91 Chair. H. 80cm. w. 42cm. d. 39cm.
Private coll. LS 1991.
CATALOGUE 92 Library table. H. 73.5cm. w. 246.5cm.
d. 77.5cm. Chestnut. Private coll. LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 93 Etagere. H. 68cm. w. 73cm. d. 30cm.
Walnut. Private coll. PA 1991. 93a PA.
CATALOGUE 94 Table. H. 71cm. w. 176cm. (extending to
274.5cm.) d. 91.5cm. Oak. Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 95 Table. H. 71cm. dia. 107cm. Oak.
Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 96 Sideboard. H. 82cm. w. 232cm. d. 57cm.
Oak. Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 97 Side table. H. 84cm. w. 225cm. d.
60cm. Oak. Private coll. PA 1991. .
CATALOGUE 98 Press cabinet. H. 246cm. w. 107cm. d.
69cm. Oak. Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 99 Bed headboard. H. 137cm. w. 92cm.
Walnut veneer. Private coll. PA 1991.
CATALOGUE 100 Frame. Lorimer Office album, SM.
CATALOGUE 101 Overmantel (detail) Lime, gilded.
Touch House, Stirling. LS 1992. 101a WRA, LS 1992.
CATALOGUE 102 Bookcases. Lower h. 84cm. w. 81cm. d
29.5cm. Upper h. 60.5cm w. 60.5cm. d. 22.5cm. Coll
Hew Lorimer. PA.
CATALOGUE 103 Table. W. 132cm. Walnut, mahogany and
marble. Phillips, Scotland, 1989.
CATALOGUE 104 Chest of drawers. H. 100.5cm w.
75.5cm. d. 48.5cm. Elm and walnut. National Trust
for Scotland, Kellie Castle. LS 1990. 104a LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 105 Display cabinet. H. 87cm. w. 119cm.
d. 40cm. Walnut. National Trust for Scotland, Kellie
Castle. LS 1990.
CATALOGUE 106 Bookcase. H. 80cm. w. 80cm. d. 30cm.
NOTE ON LAYOUT OP THESIS AND
ILLUSTRATIONS
For reasons of coherency and accessibility, the
following format has been adopted. Volume One contains
the text, organised thematically into five chapters
discussing Lorimer's domestic furniture designs and how
the furniture is arranged in the interior. Volume Two
contains photographs of interiors at Lorimer
commissions, drawings and sketches by the architect,
and comparative material by other architects and
designers.
Yet, Lorimer did not conceive of his furniture as
subordinate to the interior, and thus it would do his
designs little justice to present them in this manner.
For this reason, the illustrations of the moveable
furniture referred to in the text are arranged in a
separate volume (Three) accompanied by a brief
descriptive catalogue.
This catalogue is not intended as a definitive
list of Lorimer's furniture designs. Furniture is far
more ephemeral than architecture; the majority of
Lorimer's designs were never photographed, and the
requirements of confidentiality have hindered the
tracing of items following their sale. Nor has it been
possible to compile a catalogue by way of the drawings
preserved by Whytock and Reid. The documentation on
these was not always consistent; many of the early
drawings have been lost or damaged, and of the remnant
some contain only clients' surnames. In addition,
Lorimer's practice of repeating designs has made the
concept of a complete catalogue impracticable.
However, the presence of a fragmentary collection
of working drawings has been invaluable in the
compilation of documentary information on some of the
designs discussed. The furniture chosen for
examination in this thesis spans Lorimer's career from
his early participation in the Arts and Crafts
Exhibitions, to his work at Touch House in
Stirlingshire. Yet a thematic rather than
chronological approach to the catalogue has been
adopted, following the order of the text in Volume One.
In this way, the individual items of furniture may be
more easily studied in conjunction with the text and
ABSTRACT
• Chapter 1, entitled "The Scottish Tradition",
builds on the early twentieth-century consensus that
Lorimer had resuscitated a moribund Scottish tradition
of design. While critics have examined the Scottish
roots of Lorimer1s architecture, the native sources of
his furniture design have received little corresponding
attention. This section aims to demonstrate the ways
in which Lorimer's interest in historical Scottish
architecture and woodwork informed his interior and
furniture design. In particular, his use of vernacular
and regional forms is juxtaposed with the revival of
traditional types and motifs he shared with
contemporary designers.
Complementing a concern with indigenous design is
Lorimer1s interest in continental antique furniture.
Lorimer's personal collection, and those of his
clients, may be identified as formative in the
development of his design. Chapter 2 examines the main
sources, against the social background of Scottish
furniture and interior design during the period. The
circumstances of the commissions discussed here reveal
Lorimer1s combination of the roles of architect and
interior designer, the focus of Chapter 3 on Lorimer's
wide-ranging activities at Balmanno Castle, Perthshire.
Chapter 4 seeks to redress the balance between
Lorimer as traditionalist and agent for reform,
particularly in the area of design education. It will
be argued that his own design innovations were
secondary to the latter achievement. His attitudes to
industrial design and handcraft are considered here,
which leads to the final chapter on workmanship. This
section is comprised of an in-depth study of Lorimer's
working relationship with the executants of his
designs; the variant use of handwork and machinework is
discussed, and finally some attempt is made to discern
and acknowledge the peculiar contributions of designer
In a letter to Hermann Muthesius, Charles Rennie
Mackintosh expressed generous, though unrequited,
admiration for his Edinburgh contemporary, Robert
Lorimer: "We consider him the best domestic architect
in Scotland and admire his work very much".l With
ninety years' hindsight, this is a striking concession
from one whose own reputation has come to eclipse that
of Lorimer, at home, and even more so abroad.
Mackintosh's furniture designs, canonised as
International Masterpieces, have for many years been
reproduced by several companies; his work has an
unrefuted place in the literature of modern furniture
design, and has been approbated in Scotland as a
cultural symbol, having the same emotive resonance as,
for example, the Eiffel Tower, or Gaudi's Sagrada
Familia.
Sightings of Lorimer1s name in the canon of modern
design are rather more desultory. His furniture has
suffered from its inevitable comparison with
Mackintosh's work, the tendency being to dismiss it as
retrogressive, beside the progressive achievement of
the Glasgow designer. After Lorimer's death in 1929,
his traditionalist and craftsmanly approach to
furniture was at variance with the machine aesthetic of
much modern work, such as the glass and tubular steel
productions by the Bauhaus, or Le Corbusier, which
again have been sanctioned, and familiarised, through
reproduction.
However, renewed appreciation of regionalism, and
admiration for the qualities of craftsmanship,
exemplified, for instance, by the success of John
Makepeace and his School for Craftsmen in Wood, may
augur a more sympathetic assessment of a designer for
whom “material texture" was fundamental, and who, as
early as 1916, made a plea for the greater utilisation
of native rather than exotic timbers.2 in recent years
Lorimer1s furniture has appeared in survey literature
on Scottish design.2 That a suite of Lorimer tables
was exhibited in 1990 at Didier Aaron, Inc., New York,
is perhaps indicative of a wider and more receptive
audience for his quiet paraphrases of traditional
design.4
During Lorimer's career, his furniture received
some critical attention, with illustrations and/or
discussion appearing in the Studio, the Builder, and
the American journals House and Garden and House
Beautiful. Shortly after Lorimer's death, Christopher
Hussey included a review of the architect's furniture
in his 1931 monograph for Country L i f e .5 within the
context of a book covering the entirety of the
architect's output, this was by necessity limited in
scope. The same format was followed by Peter Savage in
1980; although a chapter was devoted to "The Edinburgh
Craft Designers", the major focus was again
architectural.6
The aim of this work is to present a more thorough
investigation of Robert Lorimer1s domestic furniture
designs. The research of Hussey and Savage has been
taken as a starting point, leading to a study of the .
extant office material, exclusively in relation to
domestic furniture and interior design. Although the
primary focus is on individual items of furniture,
consideration is accorded to the interiors for which
these were created. Lorimer's profession as an
architect in many ways compels such an approach, as
often the furniture is inseparable from its context.
The extensive material preserved from the
Lorimer/Matthew Office, such as account books,
abstracts and correspondence, discloses much
documentary information on the furniture designs.7
This is supplemented by the documentation recorded on
the working drawings for Lorimer designs, made by the
Edinburgh cabinetmakers Whytock and Reid. Until now,
this large collection has not been utilised for
verification of dates, clients and materials. Further,
communicated through these drawings is invaluable
evidence regarding the translation of Lorimer's designs
by draughtsmen and executants. Savage's discovery of
the Dods correspondence enabled him to discuss this,'to
an extent, from Lorimer1s perspective, yet the Whytock
and Reid drawings permit a wider and more thorough
analysis of working methods and relationships between
designer and workmen.
' However, the objective of this study has not been
solely to elaborate upon previous scholarship. The
Arts and Crafts context of Lorimer's furniture,
emphasised by Savage, must be expanded; Hussey's
appraisal of Lorimer's work in terms of modernism must
be engaged; and the tendency to summarise the furniture
designs purely as revivalist, should be reviewed.8
Although comparisons with Mackintosh's furniture are
almost inevitable, it is not the intention here to
recast Lorimer as a more moderate modern than
Mackintosh.
In discussing the work of this period of flux, the
danger arises of evaluating too much as simply •
transitional. Lorimer's career began in the late
Victorian period and continued well into the era that
saw the first monuments of the Modern Movement, and the
development, by architects, of such progressive
furniture as the cantilever tubular steel chair. 1929,
the year of his death, saw the introduction of Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe's influential "Barcelona chair",
still today a potent symbol of modernity. While it is
important to place Lorimer's work against such
developments, the full relevance of his furniture does
not lie in its rejection of the more florid sort of
Victorianism, or the extent to which it forecasts more
radical experimentation with form; in fact, Lorimer1s
design tends to elude classification as either
departure or precursor.
• The questioning of the assumptions to which
Lorimer's design has been prey has provided scope for
1 Charles Rennie Mackintosh, letter to Robert Lorimer, 5-1-1903, qtd. in Alistair Moffat and Colin Baxter, Remembering Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Lanark: Colin Baxter Photography, Ltd., 1989) 40.
2 Robert Lorimer, "The Neglect of Home Timber," Country Life 39 (Jan. - June 1916): 456-458.
2 For example, Wendy Kaplan, ed., Scotland Creates:
5000 Years of Art and Design (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990) 153, 155-8.
4 The suite of dining-room tables from Rowallan appeared in the exhibition "Memories and Visions: Historic Revivals and Modernism, England 1850-1900," Didier Aaron Inc., New York, Nov. 8 - Dec. 1, 1990.
5 Christopher Hussey, The Work of Sir Robert Lorimer
(London: Country Life. Ltd., 1931).
6 Peter Savage, Lorimer and the Edinburgh Craft
Designers (Edinburgh: Paul Harris Publishing, 1980).
7 John Fraser Matthew was articled to Lorimer in 1893,
became office manager, then in 1927, Lorimer's partner. The office papers were preserved by him, and later his son, Stuart Matthew, who donated the larger portion to
Edinburgh University Library, and to NMR S. In this
thesis, reference shall be to the "Lorimer Office", until 1927.
8 See, for example, Elizabeth Cumming's interpretation
CHAPTER 1
"To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.
It is one of the hardest to define." Simone
Weill
What defines Lorimer1s work as Scottish? And how
is this expressed in his furniture design? It has long
been acknowledged that his architecture fulfilled a
need for rootedness. During his lifetime, he was
recognised as an architect resuscitating a moribund
tradition; following his death in 1929, his achievement
was assessed in the light of a Scottish Renaissance,
with Lorimer lauded a Robert Burns of architecture, a
revitaliser of the v e r n a c u l a r .2 Peter Savage stressed
the seminal experience of the land and its people to
Lorimer's work, and rightly so.3
Yet, what is Scottish about Lorimer's furniture,
is a question that has not satisfactorily been
resolved. It is easier, certainly, to recognise the
influence of the national style on Lorimer's
architecture. Where restoration was the object, the
existing building obviously determined the character of
the finished work. New houses, such as Rowallan or
Ardkinglas, clearly articulate their Scottish Baronial
borrowings, and their debt to vernacular architecture.
What is less clear is how the furniture designed
for such homes shares the same roots. Elizabeth
Cumming has maintained that traditional Scottish pieces
inspired the simple forms of Lorimer's furniture, yet
illustrates a table with exaggeratedly curvilinear
stretcher and supports, and a linen cupboard with a
marquetry design of swans and rabbits.4 Savage, on the
other hand, concluded that Lorimer had been restricted
by a dearth of old Scottish furniture, and consequently
he gave little space to examining the Scottish quality
of any of Lorimer's furniture designs.5 jn this, his
views are close to those of Hussey, who discussed the
eclecticism of Lorimer's furniture design against a
general British Arts and Crafts background.
It shall be posited here that Lorimer was hindered
neither by paucity of Scottish sources, nor by a
restrictive definition of what is Scottish in Scottish
design. The need for roots was one he recognised and
addressed in his architecture and furniture design;
with regard to the latter, the methods by which he met
this need deserve closer attention.
SELF DEFINITION
The late nineteenth century in Scotland was
markedly informed by a quest for self definition. Not
that this was a novel preoccupation; the exploration of
the Scottish tradition in literature had been initiated
much earlier. Architecturally, it had found expression
in, for instance, the work of William Burn and David
Bryce, and the publications of R. W. Billings, David
MacGibbon and Thomas Ross. The latter part of the
nineteenth century, however, saw the spread of this
concern to as yet uncharted areas. For instance, John
William Small1s publications on historic Scottish
woodwork and furniture were pioneering in their attempt
to raise consciousness of Scotland's design heritage in
the areas of woodwork and furniture. Concurrently,
seminal research was being conducted into the areas of
Scottish folklore and folk m u s i c .46 This was
predicated on the increasing recognition of the
contribution of regional and vernacular traditions to
Scottish identity.
James Nicoll's Domestic Architecture in Scotland,
published in 1908, summarised the prevalent ideas on
the relevance of the Scottish tradition to modern house
building; an architecture derived from native
historical examples, constructed from mainly indigenous
materials, complemented by limited use of imported
ones, was the architecture best fitted to the country's
geography, climate and psyche.8 Yet, while the
validity of the vernacular had been affirmed from the
second quarter of the nineteenth century, a
corresponding programme for the furnishing of modern
domestic architecture remained nebulous.7
HISTORICAL SOLUTIONS
The romantic nationalism that had informed
architecture seemed to proffer an opportunity, if not
an obligation, to infuse interior design with the same
sentiment. Sir Walter Scott, as lodestar of the
Scottish romantic movement, had furnished Abbotsford
from 1817 with a richly eclectic mixture of antiques
and modern furniture, some of which had been made by
the English cabinetmaker, George Bullock. The antiques
ranged from such macabre relics as the sixteenth-
century Italian chest that had reputedly entombed
Ginevra of the "Mistletoe Bough", to the Wallace chair,
purportedly made of wood from the house in which
William Wallace had been murdered.8
Such items were valued primarily for their
associational qualities, and clearly could not be the
basis for the development of a national style of
furnishing adapted to twentieth-century requirements.
Billings and MacGibbon and Ross included a number of
interior views in their publications, and certainly
their researches were to inspire the composition, by
architects such as Burn and Bryce, of interiors after
historic models.9 Yet, the meticulous historical
detail of many of these schemes rendered them, by the
late nineteenth century, too obviously antiquarian.
Neither did the royal residence at Balmoral offer
a persuasive alternative. Rebuilt and furnished for
Victoria and Albert during the 1850s, the pervasive
tartan and stags' heads touted an ostensible
Scottishness that bore little relation to authentic
Scottish tradition. Moreover, the taste expressed here
had been called into question from the castle's
completion: "...the thistles are in such abundance that
they would rejoice the heart of a donkey if they
happened to look like his favourite repast, which they
don't."19 The challenge which presented itself to
Lorimer and the Scottish designers of his generation
was to replace the ersatz Balmoral thistle with
something both more palatable and identifiable.
Appositely, an assertion of Scott's seems to have
pointed to a possible solution: "Every Scottishman has
a pedigree. It is a national prerogative, as
unalienable as his pride and his poverty."H The
demonstration that Scotland's traditional poverty had
not thwarted a Scottish tradition of design was the
task assumed by John William Small, whose principal
importance lies in his role as propagandist for
historical Scottish woodwork. His first major
publication, Scottish Woodwork of the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries (1878), explicitly professed to
achieve for Scottish woodwork what had been achieved
for architecture - the identification and recording of
venerable e x a m p l e s .12 &s importantly, Small posited
that just as national characteristics had been
identified in architecture, the same might be
demonstrated for w o o d w o r k . 1 2
The agenda in Small's vocation was the
establishment of a canon of historical Scottish design
and, partially through this, the invigoration of the
country's modern furniture manufacture.14 Hence,
examples of Scottish woodwork were proposed as sound
models for imitation, with details and measurements
provided. Small himself reproduced seventeenth-century
furniture, both as proprietor of the North British Art
Furniture Works, and after the company's closure.15
The lists of subscribers to Small's works indicate
that his programme did engender the interest of his
intended audience. Cabinetmakers such as Morison and
Company of Edinburgh, William Scott Morton, Matthew
Pollock of Beith, and Gillows of Lancaster are among
those named. The influence of these publications was
further disseminated through illustrated reviews and
extracts appearing in trade journals such as the
Builder and the Furniture Record. 16 e importance of
periodical literature to the communication of Small's
agenda should not be underestimated. In conjunction
with his Scottish Woodwork. Leaves from mv Sketchbooks
(1880), and Ancient and Modern Furniture (1883), Small
contributed text and sketches of Scottish work to the
Cabinet Maker, with the expressed intention that
“maybe, some [furniture-makers] may get hints therefrom
which will be useful and beneficial in their everyday
work".17
A number of instances can be identified of the
reproduction by furniture manufacturers of Small's
chosen examples. The Third Marquis of Bute
commissioned the reproduction of a chair reputedly from
Lochleven Castle, recorded as Plate 42 in Scottish
W o o d w o r k .IS Messrs. Alexander and Howell, a Glasgow
cabinetmaking firm, exhibited at Edinburgh in 1886
their interpretations of Archbishop Sharp's cabinet,
and a cabinet from Linlithgow Palace, which had
appeared as Plates 1 and 7 in Scottish Woodwork.19
One of Robert Lorimer1s earliest fittings was his
close copy for Earlshall Castle, Fife, of the Falkland
Palace Screen, again illustrated by Small (fig. I).2®
At Earlshall, this reproduction might seem appropriate,
given the antiquarian leanings of Lorimer's client, R.
W. R Mackenzie, who had been a Fellow of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland since 1882.21 photographs of
the Earlshall interiors appearing in Architectural
Review in 1919, give some indication of Mackenzie's
personal collections of antique furniture and woodwork,
which included several Scottish caqueteuse chairs.
(figs. 1, 2).22
Encouraged, assuredly in part, by Small's example,
furniture manufacturers began reproduction on a wider
basis of authentic Scottish types such as the
caqueteuse armchair. This pattern seems to have
exercised a symbolic appeal, becoming almost synonymous
with historic Scottish design itself. Small had
identified the type as native in Scottish Woodwork,
although the earliest usage of the term caqueteuse in
relation to Scottish examples may have appeared in 1904
in Percy Macquoid's History of English F u r n i t u r e .23
Original caqueteuses were exhibited in Glasgow at the
1888 Exhibition, to which Small lent an example from
Neidpath C a s t l e .24 gy this date the importance of the
collection of the Aberdeen Trades Guilds' caqueteuses
was acknowledged; in a book published as a memorial to
the exhibition, it was asserted, "The Aberdeen chairs
form the finest existing illustration of the taste and
skill of Scottish craftsmen in the sixteenth and
seventeenth c e n t u r i e s 25 The Aberdeen caqueteuses
were again exhibited in Glasgow at the 1901
International Exhibition.26
Small's North British Art Furniture Works
manufactured copies of Reverend James Guthrie's '
caqueteuse in the McFarlane Museum, Stirling, as well
as upholstered examples,27 an(j Scott Morton and Company
of Edinburgh reproduced the type.28 The sale of Sir
William Fraser's substantial collection of historic
Scottish furniture in Edinburgh on December 3, 1898,
probably led to Wylie and Lochhead's reproduction of a
caqueteuse from Dunnottar Castle, previously belonging
to Fraser.29
However contextually apposite the Falkland Palace
Screen might have been for Earlshall, Lorimer early
recognised that the reproduction of Scottish
"touchstones" could not present an adequate formula for
modern home furnishing. The sentiments that had come
to surround much Scottish antique woodwork interfered
with the proper appraisal of its aesthetic qualities,
and sometimes its historical authenticity. This was
well demonstrated by the reconstruction of the Bishop's
Castle, by James Sellars, at the 1888 Glasgow .
Exhibition. Assembled here was purportedly the largest
collection of Scottish antiquities ever publicly
d i s p l a y e d .30 Regarding the furniture specifically,
romantic associations, the insistence on ascribing an
often aristocratic provenance, and the pervasive
Mariolotry, could obscure concerns over veracity, style
or form.31 Queen Margaret's prolifically carved
sideboard is but one example (fig. 3).32 <ptie Bishop's
Castle was reviewed in terms of a presentation of the
"heirlooms of Scottish Protestantism", the "souvenirs
of the religious struggles of the S c o t s".33
The ascent of the "relic setting" was a logical
extension of Scotland's self-reflexive concern with its
monarches and religious luminaries. As Ian Gow has
observed, Holyrood Palace "could provide a rallying
point for incipient romantic nationalism", culminating
in Mary Queen of Scots' anachronistically furnished
B e d c h a m b e r.34 John Knox's house in the High Street,
Edinburgh, endured a similar lack of discrimination,
having been acquired for the public in 1846.35
Arranged as a period setting as well as museum, the
house contained letters, portraits, articles belonging
to Knox and furniture contemporaneous with his time in
r e s i d e n c e .36 However, as MacGibbon and Ross were to
observe, most of the internal panelling was recently
constructed, although some carved woodwork probably
dated from the seventeenth c e n t u r y .37 Even as a
pastiche, though, the house carried an authority
